Ghost's Of Childhood
by Rookieintraining
Summary: Kuroko hasn't had a nice childhood, being beaten, bruised and burned. Now he lives in an orphanage and knows that due to his invisibility he's never getting out... After giving up on his future, a man walks into the place. Akashi Masaomi is looking for a new member to add to his family and luckily, he's found just the kid! Now a member of the Akashi family, how will Kuroko cope?
1. Alone

Chapter Text

The uncomfortable smell of anticipation hung in the air. Kuroko knew that everyone was panicking about today.

For the past week, everyone who worked for the orphanage had ranted and raved about the handsome man wanting to adopt one of the children.

Since the place was ran by all females, they gushed about the wealthy man like he was their wet dream. Kuroko tended to ignore the nauseating gossip that they spread to one another. He preferred to just quietly read in the corner of the room.

He did try to engage with the other children but he found the conversations about the new Disney film tedious. When he had asked the lady in charge for a new book, she had bought him a 'quantum physics' book as a joke.

To her surprise, the young ghostly child pulled a dictionary from the nearby shelf and began to read while familiarizing himself with the new vocabulary. Kuroko Tetsuya was six years old, he had never been fostered or adopted as he was brought to the place aged five.

His past was something only seen in horror movies, therefore the other kids tended to steer clear of the boy.

Not like he minded, often he just observed the others silently seeing what other didn't.

Nobody really spoke to Tetsuya, the other kids all frightened of him because of his low presence and often quiet persona. The ladies of the orphanage suddenly sprang into action, shouting for the kids to assemble.

Kuroko didn't bother moving. He was currently hanging upside down from a climbing frame, unable to escape as the blood rushed to his head.

The teens who often walked by the orphanage had come to dislike him, since they were usually started by his almost invisible presence.

With a cocky laugh and despicable grin they picked up the nonchalant child and placed him on the frame. Kuroko, could probably get down, he just didn't want to.

The teal haired boy let out a short sigh as he swung his legs around, letting himself crash to the damp floor with a rather loud 'thud'. He waited a moment to let the pain sink in before rising to his feet and moving towards the house.

As he opened the door, he saw all the kids in their usual positions, ready to introduce themselves.

He didn't bother watching as he silently passed the staff into the bedrooms.

The kids were dismissed to play as they started to invade the room he was in. He tutted mutely as the children began to fake being themselves, they would obediently walk to a room and do something 'grown up'.

Lies, Kuroko thought to himself.

The blunet, had not yet seen the man whom everyone wanted to go home with however, he had identified that the rich man was seemingly kind and honourable.

Kuroko himself, thought these were good traits in a father despite knowing that he would not even spare him a glance. After all, that's what his mother did, she gave him to his 'father' and left without even looking at him.

His biological dad, well he was something akin to an evil monster.

From Tetsu's knowledge, he had no good memories of the man.

Only pain.

The boy was never even told his birthday by the man.

Not once, they didn't celebrate it.

Though, there was one particular day where the torture would get ten times worse every year.

Tetsu called this day his 'birthday' as a guess.

The small boy never knew what it was like to have a family, he guessed this would be the reason he wasn't as desperate as the others to be taken in by someone.

Why would they want him? He had scars so deep that the doctors classified them as wounds.

He had bruises that would probably never heal.

Finally, he had trauma so great, he screamed in his sleep. Nobody would want Kuroko Tetsuya, the broken shadow.

Or so he thought...

Akashi Masaomi walked through the orphanage proudly watching the children go about their day.

To him, these children all seemed a bit too quiet.

He wondered through the place looking at them and seeing if any showed any of the qualities that he would want in a son and someone who would get along with his other children. When he was introduced to the bunch, he hadn't seen any child who really stood out to him, he had adopted like this before and found a kid who was outstanding.

In fact, he had found three. Ryota, Daiki and Murasakibara all were very special in their own unique way. From the get go, he had seen something special in them. Masaomi was about to give up his search and look into a different orphanage, yet he couldn't find it in him to leave.

He noticed that all of the children here, were young aging from around three to ten, he guessed that the place must be good at getting the kids here homes.

He continued to stroll into different rooms inspecting the strangeness of the place.

Quickly he found himself out of rooms to discover and gave a disheartened sigh.

Akashi spotted an empty chair in the corner of one of the large bedrooms for multiple children. He slumped down in it, something he would never normally be seen doing.

After five minuets passed he looked up only to notice that he wasn't alone in the room.

A small child was sat on a nearby bed with a book resting in his hands.

The kids eyes were glued to the page, he wondered if the lad had even spotted him sitting there.

"Hello, what's your name?" Masaomi asked calmly to the boy, for a moment a shocked expression sat on the teal-haired boys lips.

"Kuroko Tetsuya, and you are?" He asked politely, making Akashi wonder how he could not have noticed him before.

"Akashi Masaomi, you weren't introduced to me before" the man stated to the young boy who placed the book neatly down.

"I don't bother, nobody notices me anyway" Kuroko spoke back sweetly.

"Do the kids here not appeal?" Kuroko continued, relaxed by the conversation.

"Why would you say that?" Masaomi questioned, suddenly feeling intrigued by the boys observation.

"You hid away from them, don't worry they always act a little robotic when potential parents come" Kuroko explained with a small smile.

"How old are you Kuroko?" The man asked, thinking that the boy seemed very mature.

"Six" he stated bluntly in reply to the question.

"Do you want to be adopted by someone, you don't seem to mind being forgotten?" He asked hoping for a less deadpan response.

"I would like to be adopted but I am weak and not many find my past appealing, not to mention it's hard to notice me, all the other kids call me a ghost, how can a parent was someone they can't see?" Kuroko spoke calmly, not letting his emotions show.

"I can see you, how would you feel about becoming Tetsuya Akashi?" Masaomi inquired watching the usually blank expression turn into a small grin.

From that moment, Akashi knew that he had found the child that he was looking for.

"I would like to adopt a young child named Kuroko Tetsuya" Masaomi told the ladies who ran the place watching their faces drop into one of concern.

The first to speak was a young lady named Alison who worked there.

"Sir, are you sure it's just Kuroko has a lot of well, problems..." She trailed off leaving the red-head to look at her in confusion.

"What she means is, Kuroko came here aged five, his father was a highly abusive and cruel man, some of the things that he did made a therapist cry never mind poor little Kuroko" the owner Kellie told him slowly.

Masaomi looked at her in shock, such a sweet boy had, had such a horrid past?

"I am not trying to make you double think your decision, but Kuroko also has night terrors and from what we can tell PTSD, he's very well spoken and good at observing however, he can not be allowed near certain objects" she explained with a pale look setting into her face.

Akashi gulped as he waited to hear her out.

"Knives, whips or rope, irons, fire, blunt objects and he doesn't like basements, that's all I can think of, off the top of my head" She told him with a saddened look.

Masaomi took a moment to think over his decision before remembering the boys kind smile and smart words.

"And I shall take care of my son carefully and make sure that he never has to feel any pain ever again" he declared making the women almost swoon.

"Well, let's fill in the paperwork then and you can officially call him your son" Kellie smiled as she pulled out a clipboard.

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That night Masaomi went home to his sons to tell them of their new family member.

"I have finally found another child whom will be coming to live here within the week" Akashi announced making all the kids smile.

"What's their name, father?" Seijuro asked, he was the spitting image of his father and was defiantly going to be as smart as him too.

"Formally Kuroko Tetsuya, now Akashi Tetsuya" he told the boy before looking at the others for their reactions.

His blond-haired son beamed, joy flooding through his heart at the idea of another brother. The blue-haired Daiki looked calm but in the boys eyes he could see excitement, plus the large grin gave his feelings away.

Atsushi continued to eat a bag of chips a small smile playing on them in-between mouthfuls.

Shintaro's eyes sparkled as he decided to ask "when's his birthday?" Masaomi frowned, the orphanage and Kuroko both didn't know.

"He was never told, his father was a very disgusting and evil man" Akashi stated hoping that his children would understand the boy had a bad past.

"I see" Shintaro mumbled.

"Tetsuya, however did say that it was around mid February, I asked him why and he told me it was just a hunch" he explained, glad to give the green-haired boy an answer.

"Aquarius" he muttered before wandering off.

"I'm sure that he will fit into our family, father" Seijuro stated before going to find his brother.

Masaomi smiled, he was glad that his children were so kind-hearted, he really wanted them all to get along.

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"I heard that the ghost got adopted by that rich man" one of the little girls in the room gossiped.

"What no way, how when nobody can even see him?" Another voice rang out. Kuroko didn't speak, he only listened to the nearby conversation knowing what they were going on about.

"That little freak is just a waste of space, he's worthless and a nuisance" one of the older kids spat out, he had really wanted to be adopted by a family soon.

"Shut up, he might be awake" the original voice muttered, not wanting to be embarrassed by the other kids because of what she knew.

"Who cares?" The older one spoke out again. Tetsuya curled up in a ball with his hands to his ears. He just wanted to get some sleep before he would finally be free of this awful place, but apparently the other kids just wanted to make his night more miserable.

As Kuroko shut his eyes, he saw someone whom he wanted to forget. Silky strands of maroon hair entered his vision before Kuroko noticed the cold lifeless chocolate eyes that he loved so much staring up at him. The teal-haired boy let his own cyan eyes shoot open as he sat up from the bed with deep ragged breaths leaving his mouth. As he looked around, Kuroko noticed that all the others were asleep, he let his pale feet touch the floor as he silently walked out of the room.

Kuroko opened the ever-unlocked front door and walked into the eerily dark playground.

He hated those memories, someone he loved that he could no longer imagine without a mass amount of pain flooding his heart.

Kuroko clutched his chest, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart and soothe his tears away, just like he always did. His small eyes looked upwards towards the night sky where a silver moon hung, looking down at him.

Kuroko could suddenly hear his friend's voice singing to him, the tune that he always sang when there was too much screaming or Kuroko woke up screaming.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine" Tetsu began quietly, rocking himself backwards and forwards imagining his friend close by.

"You make me happy, when skies are grey" he continued through sobs and tears.

"You'll never know dear, how much I love you" Kuroko whimpered knowing that the last part that usually lulled his to sleep in the boys arms now only meant grief.

"Please, don't take my sunshine...away" the teal-haired boy whispered the last part like it was a wish letting the final tears fall before wrapping his arms around himself to shield his sickly body from the harsh cold.

He found his legs moving before he wanted them to, leading him back into the warmth of the house. Kuroko pulled his legs close to his chest next to the slowly dying flames of the fire and fell into a deep sleep.


	2. Freedom For The Broken

Light peaked through the windows of the orphanage, little pieces of fiery sunlight highlighting the room with dew drops of gold.

Tetsu found his eyes opening just in time to witness the beauty of the sunrise.

He rubbed his hands to his small tired eyes only to find cinders from the fire was all over his face.

Little CinderTetsu moved to the bathroom in order to clean his face.

Watching the black coal get wiped away leaving his skin to be the same pale alabaster colour he was so used to. Kuroko hated his reflection, he quickly brushed his teeth before leaving the room to get changed. Since, nobody ever noticed him anyway, he was almost certain that the others wouldn't notice him get changed in the room as he slipped on his clothes.

"Freak, your body looks disgusting" one of the kids in the corner snarled as he hopped down from the bunk bed.

Tetsu chose not to react, leaving the older boy to push him down onto his bed.

None of the other kids seemed to be awake as he leaned over the usually invisible Tetsu.

"I wouldn't have even noticed you were here if the door hadn't creaked" the boy growled as he leaned down to put his face in front of Tetsu's. He ran a finger along Kuroko's face, feeling the smooth skin of the boy. Kuroko's face didn't betray anything, he wouldn't let this bully win.

The older boy, Kuroko knew as Jamie, slammed his fist into Kuroko's eye before kicking him hard in the ribs. Due to past events Kuroko didn't fight. He curled up into ball and let the boy continue to have his fun.

After around five minuets, the violence stopped. Jamie marched out of the room to the toilets. Kuroko felt a searing pain flow through his body. His arms and legs bruised and his face throbbing. He could feel the agony in his chest, which he concluded was a couple of broken ribs.

The blue-haired boy went into the girl's bathroom, knowing that they wouldn't mind and if they did they wouldn't see him. He used a couple of napkins to put cold water on his aching eye and inspected the new injuries. From all of the adrenaline, he had yet to look at his broken fingers but quickly felt them become excruciatingly painful to use.

On shaky legs he made his way downstairs waiting for his new father to come and collect him.

It would never happen again, from now on he would be free from pain and suffering.

Those thought's reassured him, while others made him second guess his new home. Kuroko began wondering about his five brothers, would they be like Jamie? Would these people hurt him like everyone else did?

He could probably turn fully invisible if he tried, walk even quieter, talk mutely. He would be anything that they wanted as long as they didn't hurt him. Kuroko wiped his eyes, feeling the sorrow flood through him again. Jamie walked into the room but didn't notice him.

The older boy turned on the TV as Kellie observed him. By now, the other kids were waking up and wondering round the house. Kuroko noted that it must be nearly time for his new family to arrive, making his shake slightly in fear.

The man had seemed, so nice and was so breathtakingly beautiful that Kuroko hadn't asked about his other children. He didn't ask if he was wanted by this new bunch. He found himself fading out, going invisible to the world as he silently panicked about what pain was yet to come.

Akashi Masaomi decided not to bring his children to collect Kuroko.

Apparently, they wanted to throw him a surprise party for his arrival. He really hoped that Kuroko was ready to go when he got there so the kids wouldn't have to wait long.

They all seemed so excited to meet their new little brother and he was so pleased that they all agreed.

As the limo pulled up beside the orphanage he suddenly felt a burst of excitement.

His child was so special and smart and now finally he would live in a safe and loving environment.

Masaomi was greeted by a rather energetic Kellie with a huge smile on her face.

"Kuroko, your father is here to collect you" she shouted up the stairs as the other kids greeted him politely.

"I'm really going to miss, Tetsu" an older boy spoke to him. Something about the way he spoke made Masaomi dislike him. Kellie looked confused as she went upstairs to look for the little blunet. Akashi looked around noticing a strange thing in the corner of his eye.

A hint of blue went into his vision as he focused on the little kids curled up and shaking on the couch. He strode forward kneeling in front of Tetsu, the boy whimpered before looking up.

Masaomi gasped, Kuroko's face was paler than before, his eye swollen and bruised along with his cheek, and his fingers bent in opposite directions.

"Kuroko, oh my, what happened?" He asked rubbing a hand over the tender bruised skin of his eye.

The boy let out a small noise of fear.

"Sir, oh Kuroko, tell me what happened?" Kuroko looked up before grabbing hold of Masaomi's hand accepting the burn of his broken fingers in the older mans hand.

"Can we leave? Please" he cried not letting his eyes go to Jamie who was smirking in the corner.

"Of course" Masaomi said kindly.

"I can't walk" Tetsu whispered sorrowfully, he looked up expecting to see a face full of anger at how useless he was. Instead he was lifted up by Akashi, and walked to the front door. Akashi gave Jamie a harsh glare before leaving the house and placing his son in the limo.

"Let's go to the hospi..." Akashi started before being cut off by Kuroko.

"No, please I'm okay, It'll heal" the boy pleaded, a look of pure horror in his eyes.

Masaomi suddenly hugged his son, bringing the small boy close and letting the boy cry into his chest.

"To the house, I will ask Dr. Peterson to fix him up" as they pulled up at the front door, Masa wiped the blue-haired boy's eyes before lifting him and walking out of the car.

"You're about to meet your brothers, they are really looking forward to meeting you" Akashi whispered soothingly.

"They don't hate me?" Kuroko asked through, the final tears left in his eyes. "No, and they will never hate you that I can promise you" he said confidently.

"I want to try to walk in" Kuroko told him, Masa smiled broadly before opening the door and helping his son limp in.

"Welcome home!" A bunch of kids yelled as they closed the front door.

The kids had rainbow hair from what he could tell.

"Papa, where's our brother?" Kise asked confused, before noticing his hand was holding onto someone.

"Tetsu" the blond cried before running forward to hug the beautiful little boy.

As he pulled back to take in the others appearance, he saw an enormous amount of bruises.

"Who did this?" Kise cried before showing his older brother Akashi. Seijuuro noticed how frightened the blunet was, so he crouched down and held the boy's hand softly, taking a moment to notice his fingers were broken.

"It's okay, you don't have to be scared, were all here for you now, I promise, we're your brothers now and we love you" the younger Akashi spoke out.

Tetsu looked him dead in the eyes before smiling lightly and nodding.

"Thank you" he muttered, before being ushered off to see the live-in doctor. Masaomi watched his other sons for a moment, smiling slightly at their expressions. All of them looked completely taken with their new family member. The older Akashi found himself feeling incredibly thankful that they were all so caring and accepting and hoped that they would remain this way forever.

Kuroko headed away from the group, they all seemed really nice but he wasn't too sure if they could be trusted, after all he'd never had a brother before. Masaomi was clutching his son's hand, the aftermath of their first meeting running through his mind. Kuroko was aware that his new father would want him to be examined for any injuries, but the blunet was perfectly fine.

A little sore, maybe but nothing that he couldn't handle. It took a couple of minuets to navigate through the seemingly huge mansion to the Doctors office.

Kuroko felt his body start to shake as the man opened the door to reveal a kind looking black-haired man sitting waiting for them to arrive.

"Ah, Masomi and you must be Tetsuya" the tall man spoke kindly, holding his hand out to greet the new member of the family.

"Hello..." The small boy responded before reaching out his hand and grabbing the others.

He flinched slightly at the pain, making the doctor look down at the boys fingers.

"Oh my, how did this happen?" The raven-haired doctor cried before looking towards the boy's eye to inspect the swelling. Kuroko whimpered at the closeness, the doctors eyes widened.

"My apologies Tetsuya, I haven't even introduced myself, my name is Nijimura Shuzo and I am 19 years old" the doctor suddenly told him.

Kuroko frowned in confusion as the man smiled, almost asking him to do the same.

"My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, now Akashi Tetsuya and I'm six" the boy responded, though he knew the man already knew his name.

"See now we know a little bit about one another, I have been learning about medicine since I was twelve because Seijuro wanted me to always be with the family" Nijimura told him, wanting the boy to like him or at least trust him.

"I see, Nijimura-sensei thank you" the boy gave him a soft grin.

"So, do you feel any pain?" The raven started. Kuroko shook his head in response, "not really" the boy said.

"Would you mind taking off your top and letting me have a look at that bruise on your collarbone?" Nijimura asked softly, knowing that the boy might not do as he was told.

The blunet looked down for a moment inspecting the floor and wondering if it was safe to do so.

"Will father, please leave the room?" Kuroko asked with tears in his eyes, he didn't want to show his new father how much of a disgrace he was.

"If you want me too, but know that I will not judge you Tetsuya you are my son now, and I will love you as such" Masaomi told the blunet, slightly upset that he didn't trust his father enough to let him see his injuries.

The brunet walked away from the boy, getting ready to exit the room.

Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed at his own, "wait, please" Kuroko cried shaking at his forwardness.

"Yes?" His father responded softly. "Stay, with me?" His son's eyes were glued to the floor as if ashamed. "I would love to, Tetsuya" the man replied, calmly he was so happy that the boy had changed his mind.

Nijimura beamed, they looked so close, so quickly.

It was adorable to witness.

Kuroko slowly pulled his shirt over his head...

The raven couldn't help but gasp in horror.

Masaomi was struggling to hold his tears inside, the boy was so small and innocent.

How could somebody be so unbelievably cruel?

Kuroko's body was covered from head to toe, in scratches, bruises and burns.

His chest had illegible words carved into it, the scarring still red and blotchy.

His stomach had cuts and scars all over it. It looked as if someone had cut it open, but with the fresh bruises he was painted purple. Nijimura was given a clear view of the boys back, the whip marks cutting through the tender flesh leaving marks so deep that he was sure the boy still bled occasionally.

One particularly bad part was the shape of an iron, imprinted into the flesh on his lower back, just over his hips.

As he maneuvered around the boy he noticed that his upper arm, had needle marks all down it.

The raven sighed.

This was the most horrific thing that he had ever witnessed.

A tears found its way sliding down his face for a moment, he quickly wiped them away not wanting to upset Kuroko.

Masaomi turned around, this was awful, Nijimura was now attending to his new injuries but he couldn't understand how the raven could tell the difference.

He held his son's hand, promising the universe that he would never let anything bad happen to the poor child ever again.


	3. Five New Brothers

Chapter Text

Five boys waited patiently to finally have a proper introduction to their new family member.

All of them stayed together, each occasionally looking to another for comfort and love. It was the hardest introduction they had ever had before, the only other being Aomine who didn't want to speak to any of them and denied that he wanted to be there.

Akashi smiled slightly at the memory.

One stubborn little boy, sitting on the steps in front of their house demanding to be taken back to the orphanage, of course now he despises those places and vows that he will never go back.

Seijuro found his hand reaching for Daiki's, he didn't quite know why but as his fingers wrapped around the others hands, his brother gave him a soft smile.

"Tet-chin looked so pretty, but so hurt" Murasakibara announced as he thought about the boy. Kise shot him a worried look before walking over to the taller boy and sitting on his knee.

"Tetsucchi is really adorable, but when I tried to hug him he started to shake like a leaf, will I ever not scare him?" The blond questioned out loud, making the others turn to him and the purple-haired giant pull him closer to his chest.

"Duh, we're going to be the only ones that Tetsu lets hug him, because we love him most" Aomine declared, looking for Akashi for backup. The red-head simply smiled cautiously, he knew that Tetsuya might not want any contact for a while, but...

"Obviously, after a while, he will learn to trust us, but we can't force it on him" Akashi spoke, calmly and gently to his brothers.

"Not that I care but, how would we help him?" The green-haired boy asked, he frowned at the amused glances of his brothers who could see straight through his 'I don't care' façade.

It was a couple of hours until Kuroko was freed from the care of Nijimura-Sensei, the kind raven had given him a gentle hug and told him he was very brave as they left the room.

"I think that Nijimura-Sensei is very nice" Kuroko told his father with a soft smile.

Masa-Chan grinned, the boy really was adorable, and sweet but behind those cerulean eyes lay a broken, baby blue angel with bent wings and lost feathers. As they made their way back down stairs to join dinner, Kuroko was given a slight tour.

The man pointed to each room and told him what could be found in there.

"This room is the largest, all the boys sleep in here, you can have a separate one or you can choose to sleep with them" Masaomi told him calmly, secretly wanting the blunet to choose to stay with his new brothers, then they could bond.

"I want to speak to them some more before I decide, is-is that okay?" Tetsu stuttered slightly near the end as if he was afraid of asking for things.

"Definitely, but I can assure you that they think very highly of you, especially Kise" his father told him with a grin. Kuroko looked down slightly, wondering which one was Kise. 'Ki is yellow, so the blond who greeted me?' Kuroko inwardly deducted.

"The blond?" the blunet asked quietly.

"Yes, Kise Ryouta, I usually refer to my sons as their last names originally or it becomes confusing" Masa explained, as they began to walk down a flight of stairs.

"I would like to be called Tetsuya, Kuroko holds bad memories for me" the little boy told him with a frown, Masaomi felt his heart start to ache.

The older man nodded firmly at his new son, "okay then, Tetsuya".

"Tetsuicchi!" A voice shouted as the pair walked into the living room. A blond boy ran at him before managing to stop right in front of him with a beaming smile of confidence and kindness.

"Hello, Kise-Kun" Tetsu shyly replied before watching the boy's eyes widen in happiness.

"Please call me Ryouta-Nii from now on Tetsuicchi, can I hug you?" Kise began but faded to a quiet whisper near the end.

Kuroko looked at him shocked slightly, the blunet found himself nodding slowly.

A pair of strong arms quickly engulfed him and Kise's face nuzzled his neck.

"Welcome to your new home Tetsuiichi" he whispered just before planting a small chaste kiss on the younger ones cheek. As the blond let go, he found himself cradling the area where Ryouta's lips had touched, with a strange expression.

"Hey, Tet-Chin" the tallest of the group began, he was huge, meaning that Kuroko had to physically look up to address him.

"Hello..." Kuroko shyly began with a lost look.

"Ah, Murasakibara Atsushi, call me Atsu-Nii" the purple haired one told him, the giant then began to eat snacks as he began to walk away. Much to everyone's confusion he stopped half way and walked back before bending down to Kuroko's level.

Murasakibara left another small kiss on the boy's then, he walked away once more.

The blunet once again looked mortified as he moved his other hand to the other spot.

"Sorry, I told you that they liked you" Masaomi laughed before also leaning down and kissing the back of the boy's hair.

"The others are probably waiting to meet you, shall we go look for them?" His father offered, the child nodded but Masa didn't miss the blush that had gathered on his face.

"Aomine?" Masa-Chan asked a boy sat across the room with a basketball in his hand.

"Ah, Tetsu" the boy started before running up to them. "Hey, Tetsu, I'm your big brother Daiki, call me Dai-Nii okay?" The boy grinned as he looked down at the shivering blunet.

"Ah, hello Dai-Nii" Kuroko muttered feeling embarrassed.

The larger blue-haired boy stated to rub the smaller ones hair before holding out his fist to the smaller one. Much to his distress, the boy stated to shake uncontrollably, making his father panic.

"It's okay Tetsu, it's just a fist bump, I would never hurt you" Aomine told the other boy. Kuroko's terrified eyes glanced up only to feel the boy pull him onto a chair with him. Masaomi watched as Daiki pulled his brother onto his knee while sitting on the couch nearby.

The older of the pair rocked his brother and cooed at him, kind words, much like Seijurro had once done for Daiki himself.

"I love you very much Tetsu, I promise" he muttered before pressing a kiss to the smaller boys lips, hoping that he wasn't going too far. Tetsuya's hand shot up to touch his lips, his brothers were so soft and plump, he couldn't believe it.

"Hey, Tetsu fist bump?" Aomine asked as he picked up the pale hand and put it into a clenched position before bringing his own to meet it.

"Oh..." Kuroko muttered finally realising what the older was trying to do in the first place.

"I'm sorry, it's hard to trust others when all you can see is the weapons they carry and not person inside" Tetsu told him before pushing himself of the older ones knee. Daiki send him a sorrowful smile, "yeah, I know what that's like".

As they walked through a doorway, Kuroko found his face crash into someone else's torso.

"Ouch, are you okay?" The voice asked before someone kneeled in front of him checking his head for injury.

"I'm okay, are you?" Tetsu began watching the other give him a soft nod. A pair of bespectacled emerald eyes looked into his saphire ones for a moment.

"I'm your brother, Midorima Shinataro, please feel free do call me Shin-Nii, for now at least" the other told him softly.

"Okay Shin-Nii, call me Tetsu" the smaller of the pair began, the green-haired boy gave him a small nod of approval.

"Since, Kise has been running around telling everyone how he kissed you, may I?" Midorima asked, a blush fighting its way onto the boys features. Kuroko nodded as the taller boy pressed a tiny kiss to his nose.

The green-haired boy reached out to hug the other, allowing himself to openly show the other that he did really care about him.

"If you need to talk to someone, please come and talk to me, I won't ever judge you okay" Midorima whispered in the others ear. He then, got up and walked away leaving both Tetsuya and Masaomi in a shocked state of confusion.

"Wow, Midorima must really like you, he's never that honest" the older man began to giggle as he realised what effect Tetsu was having on his children, this really was a good idea after all.

"Hmm, I can only guess that Seijuuro is in the library" Masaomi told his new child. Kuroko's head shot up, looking into the others eyes excitedly.

"You have a library?" Tetsu beamed at the thought making the older man chuckle.

"Yes, it's full of books about everything, I'm guessing that you want to go there?" Kuroko gave him the largest, most honest smile that he had ever seen.

"Yes, please" he cried out. Masa took the boy's hand and started to lead him to the second largest room in the whole mansion. It was just off, the boys main bedroom, so Kuroko already knew where he was as they walked into the room.

Kuroko felt himself gasp loudly, the room was absoltely huge! Kuroko laughed, this was definelty going to be his favourite room in the place.

"I see that you like it here?" A voice chuckled, as a familiar red-head rounded the corner.

"Don't worry, I love this room too, I'm Akashi Seijuuro, you can call me Sei-Nii". Kuroko, found himself looking around at the room but his eyes always moved back to the kind-hearted red-haired boy.

"Umm, Sei-Nii what are you reading..." Tetsu asked with a coy look on his face.

"Ah, this story is actually Shakespeare's Hamlet" Akashi told him, looking unbelievably pleased.

"I see, I've already read it then..." Kuroko muttered before looking through the books in front of him. Akashi gaped at the boy for a moment before smiling.

"How about Pride and Prejudice?" Seijuuro questioned not really thinking that the boy could possibly have read such a hard to read and long book.

"Ah, I read that too, I was five, books really are amazing and beautiful they held you escape the other word" Kuroko told him, he was so mature for such a young child and Akashi found himself taken aback slightly by the boy.

"Come sit with me" Seijuuro told Kuroko. The boy cautiously made his way over, before being pulled onto Akashi's knee.

"Books, are amazing, but reality can be good as well, I hope that we can help you see that you are truly loved in this world" Sei told him watching as small tears made their way into his eyes. Akashi placed a firm kiss to the boys lips much like Aomine had done before, and then gently started to cuddle to the younger lad.

"Let's go eat with the others" Akashi encouraged as he picked up the boy in a princess hold and began to make their way downstairs. Seijuuro noted that his father had left the library though he couldn't quite pinpoint when exactly.

Soft snores came from the little boy in Seijuuro's arms as he sat down at the table with the rest of his brothers.

"Aw, he's so adorable" Kise announced as he stated to stroke the boy's hair happily.

"Yeah, and he's very smart too, he's only six and has read more books than me" Akashi told the others who all gasped and then grinned.

"Tetsu, was so scared though, when I tried to fist bump him" Daiki told the others as he sat down at the table.

"I wonder what happened to him..." Midorima thought out loud, before looking worried.

"I'm sure that he will tell you all one day" another voice rang out, making them all turn towards it.

"Nijimura-Sensei" everyone cried out, he giggled slightly.

"I'm glad that someone like him was placed in such a kind home, he's going to really need you guys in the future so you better all take good care of him" the raven declared as he looked round to see their father looking lovingly at the scene.

"I can't wait until you all grow up, you're going to be an amazing bunch of kids" Masa-Chin laughed before sitting to eat with them, getting ready to awaken the beautiful teal haired boy whom they now called family.


	4. Lost In The Flames

Chapter Text

An abnormally loud sound ripped through the air, awaking Kuroko with a startled moan.

His tiny teal eyes widened as he looked around at the room he was just sleeping in.

There was a cloud of ash and smoke surrounding him, the whole room engulfed in a glum dark shadow reaching towards him. Kuroko, shakily pulled himself out of his bed, hearing the broken contraption creak before he got to his feet. The cold wooden made him flinch as he wiggled his toes.

The ash cloud, now managed to reach where he stood making Kuroko cough loudly as he breathed the fog in. It was a matter of seconds before he heard a mortified scream piercing through the nearly unbreathable air.

Tetsuya found his small feet running out of the room, not noticing that the others in the place had left him behind already.

"Kuroko" a small voice choked out as the tealette reached the stairs, he wanted to run but found that his feet wouldn't move.

"Kouki-kun..." Kuroko cried out before running forward to meet the boy whose voice had just about managed to reach his ears.

A large pillar lay on top of the brunet, who was violently shaking from a mixture of fear, and how cold he suddenly felt. "Kouki, please hold on, someone will come for us, I'm sure of it" Kuroko gulped as he assessed the situation.

'No, please, not Kouki, he's my family please' screamed the cyan-eyed boys inner monologue. He found that his eyes were filling up with tears.

"Tet...su, please go, thank you" Kouki managed to mumble his terrified chocolate eyes meeting the heartbroken stare of his friend.

"No, I love you, I won't leave you, not here, not now" Tetsuya replied, his words silently conveying his equal amount of fear.

"I love you, too so please live, Tet...su..y..." his failing voice finally went silent as the crushed boy went still beneath the large wooden pillar.

The blunet stilled, his eyes flooding with tears.

He could suddenly see the fire emerge behind him as he looked towards boy whom he loved, deatly and pale.

"Kuroko" someone screamed from beside him.

The teal-haired boy refused to look up at the new voice as his eyes raked the ghostly body of his friend.

"Kuroko, oh my gosh, we have to go" now, Kuroko could tell that Ogiwara was the person stood next to him.

It only took a second before, the other boys arms wrapped around him, making him Princess carry the frozen child.

Ogiwara was choking on the smoke in the air, but he was determined to get his lovely friend away from the fire.

"Put me down, we can't leave him" Tetsu spoke nonchalantly in a voice that was so close to silence that Ogiwara had to second guess what he said.

"Kuroko, he's gone" Ogi replied sorrowfully. Without a second thought, Kuroko shook.

"No, he's just asleep, he's waiting for us to save him" Kuroko squirmed in his friends grasp, he just wanted to get back to the constantly scared brunet.

"I promised, we would save him, that help was on the way" Tetsu whimpered realising that he couldn't help the other boy now.

Ogiwara let his tears fall as he ran through the house.

"He knew you tried" the taller one replied with a sorrowful sob erupting from his mouth. The two managed to make it outside just in time to watch the place fall apart in the flames. They rocked each other as they mourned the loss of their best friend in the whole world.

Kuroko woke from the horrid dream with a groan, it had been a while since he had dreamt of that fateful night. It was the last time he had ever seen the two people who he lived for. The next day, he was sent back to live with his father and Ogiwara with his uncle.

Well, it wasn't the exact 'last time' that he had ever seen Ogiwara. Kuroko shivered violently at the memory.

Finding his feet lifting him to the ground in order to look around at the room. Tetsuya found himself wiping the tears from his cheeks before letting out a shocked gasp. He was in an incredibly familiar room.

Five boys lay near him, all of them sleeping on a single king sized bed, their limbs entangled in all directions under the sheet.

"Ah, Nii-San's" Kuroko muttered under his breath, he looked down to notice that they had let him sleep on his own. The blue-haired boy found himself staring at the boys with a tender look etched onto his face, they all looked so peaceful when they were sleeping.

"Thank you, for accepting me" Kuroko thanked, his eyes landing on everyone one of them as he spoke.

The boy turned to move away from the scene, letting his small legs carry him away from the room.

Suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around him making Kuroko flinch and move his face to look at the person. His eyes widened in shock as they pulled him back onto the bed with the others and cuddled him closely, allowing Aomine to move slightly efficiently draping his left arm over their new baby brother.

"I love you, Tetsuchii" Kise whispered in the boys ear, allowing Kuroko the knowledge of who listened to him.

Teal eyes met Kise's golden ones for a moment.

"You have a pretty smile, when it's real" the blunet told him before letting his dropping eyes close.

The warmth from his cocoon of brothers slowly ushered him into a deep sleep. Kuroko never noticed the fond smiles from those in the bed as they looked at his gentle sleeping face.

"You may not understand this now, Tetsuya but we are so very thankful that someone as beautiful and innocent as you came to a family like ours" Kise mumbled, dropping the 'occhi' to confess his true thoughts.

The hum of sweet, quiet snores flooded the room making everyone smile.

Kise tucked his head onto Midorima's shoulder before falling asleep.

The green-haired boy moved his body to closely snuggle with the blond.

His lips moved down to place a small kiss on the models head, before he too was subdued by sleep.

Nobody had anything else to say as they chose to go to sleep, moving closer to the youngest pair of the group (Kuroko and Kise).

Kise's gentle words ringing in their minds, as they entered the dream state. Little did they know that soon the sun would rise and they would have to greet the day once again, together.

Kuroko awoke the next morning, with a small grin.

It was the first time he'd woken up happily in an awfully long time.

The bodies of his older brothers were snuggled close to his tiny one, their faces all adorning warm, serene smiles.

"Good morning Tetsuya, did you sleep well?" A voice asked, as he slowly let his eyes flutter open. Kuroko yawned, before answering with a nod. He looked at the red-headed brother before motioning for them to get up.

"Would you like to go get an early breakfast Tetsuya, you didn't get to eat last night?" Sei asked kindly, before chuckling at the strange sound that erupted from the smaller boys stomach.

"So, I will take that as a yes then" Akashi giggled, he then lifted his hand out for the younger one to take, in order for the red-head to escort him to the dining room. Tetsu tentatively placed his fingers in his older brothers hand before being pulled to his feet.

"Thank you, Sei-Nii" Kuroko beamed allowing the older one to nuzzle his crazy bed-hair with a loving grin.

"You are too cute, Tetsuya" he chuckled his nose suddenly tickling the blunet into letting out an adorable giggle.

Kuroko wriggled out of the older ones grasp before practically hoping down the stairs to the dining room.

"Ah, Tetsu, your awake early" he heard his father observe.

His father patted the seat next to his own, the table was too high for Tetsuya meaning that the boy had to jump onto the seat to see the contents of the table. When he finally looked at the food spread out over the large round table, he let out a gasp.

"This is a lot of food..." Kuroko remarked watching the older man's lips curl into a smirk.

"Only the best for my children, I'm guessing that Seijurro is also awake" Masaomi replied thinking about where his oldest would most likely be located.

"Yes, he is awake, he started to tickle me so I ran away" Kuroko told the older man, who let out a booming laugh at his children's antics.

"Right now he's probably going to greet Nijimura, he does that every morning as otherwise the man would sleep all day" Masa-Chan giggled, thinking about how much he liked the two of them.

The eldest Akashi son had instantly taken to the raven-haired doctor, loving the kind and honest demeanor that Nijimura let out.

"Ah, I like Nijimura-Sensei" Tetsuya declared, suddenly sounding once again like a child and not a man way past his age.

"I'm glad, he's very fond of you, he told me last night when he helped carry you to your room, I hope you didn't mind sleeping in the room with the others" Masaomi announced, making Kuroko think about his first night in the house with the new family.

"Actually, I ended up sleeping in the same bed as the others, I had an awful nightmare, but it really helped having them close" Tetsu told him, sipping on his tea to ensure that he didn't burn his tongue.

"Do you want to talk about the nightmare?" Masaomi asked, wondering what the tale would tell about his son. Kuroko cast his eyes down, he wondered if he really did he want to tell his father about what had happened at the foster home that day.

Kuroko didn't answer letting Masa know that he didn't really want to say anything yet.

"It's okay Tetsuya, I know that it must have been a horrible thing to have to see, you know that your extra belongings have been delivered this morning" Masaomi informed Tetsuya, who looked up at him confused.

The older Akashi got up from the table, only to return with a large brown box. He placed it on the table before looking up to greet the others who were now flooding into the room.

"Hello, father" Akashi began, with Nijimura nodding in a greeting.

"Hello Seijurro, Nijimura" the older man smiled at them as they looked at Kuroko who was bewildered looking into a box sat on the table.

"Oh, your all up" their father spoke with a chuckle, before turning to thank Sei for managing to get them out of bed. After a mixture of 'good mornings' they all sat and began to eat.

Par one person.

Tetsuya.

The blunet began to rummage through the box, not noticing the stares of his family around him. A large basketball was placed on the inside of the box, taking up a large amount of space.

Three books were piled high on the left side, making Kuroko look to inspect which one's were sent.

The Night Circus, Kensuki's Kingdom and the first Harry Potter book were the titles that met his eye. He hadn't read them in a while but he fondly remembered telling Kellie about each one.

'Tetsu, these are the books that you seemed to love the most, I slipped something into 'the night circus' for you, I think you deserve to keep it, good luck with your new family, never forget us, Love Kellie' read a note that lay on top of the basketball. Kuroko picked up the box and placed it on the floor before pulling out the book that she mentioned.

"You, have good taste in books Tetsuya" Akashi noted aloud as he glanced at the book title.

Everyone smiled at the boy, who looked shocked at the compliment.

He opened up the first page, allowing something to fall out onto the table in front of him.

Masaomi picked it up and examined the paper.

"How old were you in this picture?" His father asked with a grin. Kuroko was handed what he could only guess was a photograph.

Everyone was shocked when his breath hitched.

The boys saw Tetsu's fingers slide over the cheek of another person in the image.

"Tet-Chin, are you alright?" Murasakibara asked pulling the boy close to his side when he noticed the tears in his little brothers eyes.

"It was them" Kuroko began, making the people look confused around him "they were the one's in the dream". Masaomi's eyes widened.

"What was their names?" The older man asked, knowingly.

Kuroko made a noise like a sob, forcing Aomine to get out of his seat and move to confort the little one.

He hugged the little boy, along with the purple giant.

Quickly, Kise and Akashi also moved, letting themselves join the 'group hug'. Midorima was the last to move, but in the end he too wanted to comfort the crying cyan-haired boy.

"I'm sorry, for being such a baby, I'm always crying lately" Kuroko managed to firmly say as he reveled in the warmth from the hug. "It's okay to cry, it's human" Midorima supplied, before making the others let go of the youngest. He showed the photograph which only Murasakibara, Masaomi and himself had looked at to the others.

"Their names were Furihata Kouki" Kuroko started allowing his thumb to scrape across the boy in the picture. Kouki's hair has a mess with Ogiwara's hand ruffling it, his eyes were open in a loving smile. Ogiwara was hugging both of them close, with his other hand around Tetsu's waist pulling their faces close to the camera. All three of them were grinning. "And this was Ogiwara Shigehiro".

He paused to look at his brothers who were all very interested in who these two boys in the photo were.

"They were, no, they are the only other people apart from you in the whole world who I will ever call my family" Tetsuya announced, grinning triumphantly as he managed not to sob out the words.

"Any family of yours, is a welcomed member of ours" Masaomi replied. Kuroko looked shocked for a moment before relaxing into a warm state of security.

The brothers began to fawn over their cute little brother, and that's how they spent the day.

Cuddled up together, pouring their love and affection into their new adorable, broken little brother.


	5. Do you (L o v e ) trust us?

Chapter Text

"Okay, favourite colour?" Ryouta asked a determined look in his eyes as he scribbled out words onto a lined piece of paper. Tetsuya watched as Daiki was practically forced to answer the blonds never ending questions with amusement written on his face. Seijuuro occasionally looked up from his book to keep an eye on the fuming blunet who we was pretty sure was on the verge of killing the model-like boy.

"Blue" Daiki growled with a sigh, the blond's eyes sparkled happily as he jotted the answer down on the paper, his indistinguishable writing making it hard for anyone to know the reason behind his interrogations.

"Hmm, favourite animal?" Kise questioned, pointing his finger at his brother.

Tetsu let out a small giggle as the vain popped in Aomine's head.

"Dogs, now leave me alone before I kill you" the blunet yelled, storming away from the now pleading blond. Murasakibara glanced at Ryouta, who was now crying because his test subject had ran away from him.

"Shintaro, what your fav..." Kise began, making the green-haired boy stand up abruptly and walk out of the room holding his hands to his ears as a way of ignoring the question.

"So mean!" The model cried, pouting as his eyes well rimmed with unshed tears.

Kuroko couldn't help it, he had to comfort the blond. He quickly got to his feet, and walked towards his brother. Wordlessly, he sat on the boys lap, and pushed his head into the crying boys shoulder.

"Silly questions anger people Ryou-Nii" the cyan-haired boy whispered, as the older ones arms snaked around his waist.

"But, I wanted you to get to know us better" the boy responded, making Tetsu pull back to give him a strange look.

"Well, if you listen to our favourite stuff then you know us better and then you're more comfortable around us" Ryouta blurted, his words rushed as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. Seijuro chuckled from the other side of the room, his eyes showing fondness for the two cuddling boys.

"Honestly, you don't need to annoy Daiki for that, if Tetsuya wanted to know he'd ask" the red-head proclaimed before moving towards them to ruffle Kise's golden locks. Ryouta looked down into the blunets eyes for a moment, watching the blank expression change for a split second into concern.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to know loads about the others when I got here, I thought you might be the same" he told the smaller boy with a coy smile. Tetsuya thought about Ryouta's words for a moment, it was true that he wanted to know more about them...

He had been there a week and only knew the bare minimum amount of information on each.

"It's true, the more I know, the closer we can be..." Kuroko muttered aloud, fluttering his eyelashes at the blond. Kise grinned at his younger brother, squeezing him close.

"I want to be super close with Tetsuochii" the golden eyed boy announced, making the younger of the pair struggle to escape his tight grasp.

"Can't breath" Kuroko snapped, as he forced his body away from the overly affectionate one. Seijuro shook his head at his younger siblings.

"Don't kill him, he's only been here a week Ryou-Chan" Atsushi drawled before smirking at the worried expression on the golden-boys face.

"I'm sorry, don't die Tetsuocchi" he whimpered before backing away from the light-blue haired boy. Panic setting into his features and his breathing becoming ragged and uneven. His body starting to shake as it slumped down.

Akashi moved to pat the boys head, knowing about the boys panic attacks.

"Ignore Atsushi he won't die" the oldest cooed, sending a deadly glare towards the second oldest.

Eventually the blond seemed to calm down, especially when Kuroko sat with him and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek.

"I'm okay, I won't die as long as you're with me Ryou-Nii" the smallest told the terrified one. Kise shook slightly but nodded his head slowly to acknowledge the blunets words.

"Promise" he asked, holding out his pinky finger towards the younger boy.

"I promise" Kuroko responded, gripping his brothers little finger with his own. Tetsuya couldn't help but wonder why the blond had practically had a panic attack at such a small joke. Still, he didn't want to pry, he was sure that the blond would tell him about his past, similar to how he himself might share it.

"I love you, Ryou-Nii" Tetsu muttered, his eyes looking at the sad version of the happy puppy-like brother in front of him. Kuroko felt a small twist in his chest, like butterflies were floating and fluttering around in his belly.

"Huh" Kise faltered, as he processed the boys words.

"I love you too, Tetsuocchi" he whispered back, moving forward and pressing a loving kiss to the boys soft lips. Kuroko went red for a moment before moving his hand to cover where Ryouta's lips had just been.

"That was really adorable Tetsuocchi" the boy mumbled as he snuggled his face into the smaller ones neck.

Tetsuya felt his heart start to speed up for a moment before he let out a tiny whimper, he couldn't understand why he felt so out of breath.

"Hey, we should find Dai-Kun and play some basketball" the golden-haired one decided as he clutched his little brothers hand and pulled him along in order to gather up the brothers who they would play ball with.

Masaomi smiled lightly as he watched the sweet exchange, they were really cute together. He let out a soft chuckle before looking over to Nijimura who was grinning brightly.

"They are getting on just fine, for once someone other than you managed to calm Ryouta from one of his panic attacks" Shuzo announced, placing his hand on the older mans shoulder. For a moment Masaomi looked incredibly proud before his expression sank completely.

"Ugh, this means that my children don't need my help anymore..." he wailed, a pout fixing it's way onto the mans lips.

Nijimura couldn't help but led out a loud booming laugh at the mans expression.

"Don't be silly they will always need you" Shuzo spluttered once he managed to make the laughter die down.

"I don't feel special anymore, no fair" Masaomi complained pulling Nijimura close to him.

"You're such a baby at times, there your children and they will always need you, just because Tetsuya can calm Ryouta doesn't mean that he will never need you again" Shuzo explained, feeling honestly taken-aback by how upset the older male actually was. Masaomi lifted his eyes to meet Shuzo's before pushing his lips onto the ravens. It was only a second before they pulled away, Akashi face turning a dark red colour.

"Masa, kiss me again" Shuzo cried, tugging on the older ones shirt for a moment in order to turn the other around. A moment later, the elder Akashi's lips were locked onto Nijimura's the two moaning in joy as they kissed...

Shintaro didn't know what to make of the scene, his eyes suddenly widening at the two men in front of him. Nijimura was their doctor, he'd been in the house since before Midorima had even stepped foot in the place.

Seijuro would be the first to admit that he had forced the boy to stay and become a doctor because he had a crush on him when he was younger and now...

Now, the green-haired boy had watched as his father kissed Shuzo Nijimura, their friend and doctor.

And a man...

Shintaro turned on his heels, the kiss that he had witness wasn't like the ones that Sei gave him or that Daiki did. No, it was deeper and more involved, Shintaro was curious but still he decided to ignore it and keep the adults a secret.

"Shin-Nii, do you want to play basketball with us?" A voice suddenly asked from nowhere, effectively making the emerald-eyed boy jump. He looked down for a moment to see tufts of blue hair and a blank expression on a child's face.

"Tetsuya, you startled me!" Midorima exclaimed his heart racing as the fear of a jump scare set in. Tetsu let out a chuckle, he couldn't believe that Shin-Nii of all people would be so frightened by his misdirection.

"Sorry Shin-Nii, Ryou-Nii sent me to find you, everyone is playing basketball do you want to join?" Kuroko asked his eyes pleading with the greenette to play with them. Midorima let out a large sigh, 'it can't be helped' he told himself.

"Lets go then" he mumbled before taking Tetsuya's hand and heading towards the basketball court on the estate.

As they reached the court, the squeaky sound of shoes filled their ears.

Midorima looked towards his little brother who had a curious look painted on his face.

"Do you even know what basketball is?" The elder one asked, wondering if the boy had agreed to this without understanding the game at all.

"Yeah, Ogiwara, Furi and I used to play all the time, well when we were allowed to leave, but Ogiwara and I would sneak the ball into the basement for when we were trapped, it helped occupy us" Kuroko mused, reminiscing about the days where his monster of a father would lock them in the basement for days on end without food or water.

"Locked in the basement...?" Midorima asked, fear setting into his stomach making him feel sick.

"Hmm, forget about it" Tetsuya added, ignoring the pained look on his brothers face, he knew that if he told them the whole truth then all they would do is pity him. He hated pity.

"Ah, they've started without us Shin-Nii, we'll team up and beat them!" Kuroko exclaimed rushing into the court with a determined look.

"Just what have you been through Tetsuya?" Shintaro asked aloud, knowing that the universe probably wouldn't answer his question. He really couldn't help but think that the boy whom they loved so much as a new part of their family, had been through hell and come back, and that scared him.

"Nice of you two to join us, Tetsuya can be on my team" Seijuro laughed as they entered the room, the stench of sweat making the youngest of the bunch dizzy.

"No way, I'm being on Shin-Nii's team" Tetsu cried out, making them look at him shocked. Midorima was blushing furiously at the declaration.

"Oi, don't be difficult" Shintaro announced as he looked towards the youngest. Kuroko gave him a blank look in reply to his words before wrapping his hand around Midorima's.

"Fine, Daiki and Ryouta; Shintaro and Tetsuya; and finally Murasakibara and I, they will be the teams" Seijuro gave in, his announcement making the others smile.

"I've never seen three teams on one court" Kise giggled, as he took the ball off Shintaro and moved to make a three pointer. It was at this point that Murasakibara caught the ball and began to move back to the other side of the court. Nobody had assigned nets but they didn't care, laughter filled the air as they played.

The game ended up 1:2:2 with the leaders being Seijuro, Atsushi, Shintaro and Tetsuya.

"You have to be my partner at basketball Tetsu, we could be so cool!" Daiki announced as they left the gym. Tetsuya smiled in reply, Daiki was really good at basketball. The older blunet moved his fist out, and calmly Kuroko responded to the fist bump. Aomine gave a victorious laugh before running into the showers.

"We have a set of communal showers too, but this one is large so we can all shower at once, though it's more private than the other one" Akashi explained as they walked into the room.

He noticed that his brothers we not shy at all as they started to strip.

"I'm going elsewhere to shower, thank you" Tetsuya murmured before trying the exit the showers, he really didn't know why he had gone in, in the first place.

"Don't be shy Tetsu, we're bro's now so it doesn't matter" Aomine grinned as he moved forward to take the smaller blunets top off.

"No!" Kuroko shouted before trying to run. Atsushi grabbed him before he could, putting him down in the middle of a circle of his brothers.

"I don't want you to hate me, or call me gross, I don't want it" Tetsuya whimpered, as he looked around at them. Daiki looked the most upset by his words, since he'd stopped him in the first place.

"Tetsu look" Aomine muttered as he pulled off his shirt. A deep scar moved from the boys shoulder to his stomach, it was red around the edges and looked unbelievably painful.

"I got this when I was younger, I was in a plane crash and some shrapnel got imbedded into my chest, now I look like this..." Aomine told him, trusting the youngest with his deepest secrets. Kuroko reached out his hand, making the elder boy flinch. He watched the youngest slowly move his tiny fingers along the deep scar, so gently it was as if he was going to break.

"You're beautiful" Tetsuya whispered making Daiki blush slightly.

The others were taken away by how easily Kuroko accepted Aomine's scars, as if they were normal.

"Okay, now it's your turn" Daiki muttered, looking kindly towards the youngest in the group who still looked hesitant to do anything.

Suddenly, Atsushi pulled his top off as a sign of trust.

Seijuro did the same.

Ryouta quickly followed but honestly, he was so used to it considering he was a model

Shintaro already had no shirt on considering they were stripping down to shower.

Kuroko gulped, he didn't want to let his brothers down. They would probably feel sad if he didn't show the same amount of trust that they were doing but...

"I was so afraid of this when I came here, the last kid to see my body told me I was a freak with a disgusting body, I don't want you all to feel the same" Tetsu sobbed, allowing himself to cry about the bullying for the first time.

Atsushi kneeled down and hugged the crying boy.

"People are horrible and bully everyone, we aren't bullies we're your brothers" the purple giant declared, he was already 5 foot 2, where the others were still around 4 foot.

The other brothers nodded, smiling encouragingly at the youngest.

"I trust you" Tetsuya muttered, before pulling off his t-shirt...


	6. Panic! At The Akashi Household

Chapter Text

The scars were like non they had ever seen, five boys faces contorted into the horror filled expression that Tetsuya had dreaded so very much. Their eyes raked his body, making Kuroko shiver at the searching looks of guild and dread.

The blunet didn't want to look at their expressions too much.

It would be too painful. Unfortunately, his ever roaming gaze found itself fixating on a certain other scarred boy. Aomine's face looked grim, his eyes were widened in fear, fear of what, Kuroko couldn't quite figure out. It was only moments later that the dead-eyed stare of Tetsuya noticed the tears in his brothers eyes, it made the sapphire blue of his iris's shine like he'd never seen before.

"Dai-Nii..." Kuroko started, his lips falling into a frown.

Tetsuya never meant to hurt his brothers, but it seemed to him like his disgusting body had finally managed to make them hate him. Kuroko's mind started racing as he anxiously shifted around to see the rest of his brothers. Atsushi was shaking, and Kuroko knew it was the type of shivering that was uncontrollable and painful.

The type of shaking that came with immense pain or hatred and suddenly, Tetsuya was afraid.

He was really, really afraid...

Kuroko managed to move his arms to his eyes, to paw at the tears just as they started to fall. The blunet realised that they were watching him and decided to turn around, he didn't want them to watch him cry. He didn't want them to see his looking so weak.

A pained gasp erupted from behind him, as Tetsu suddenly realised what he'd done. Kuroko had accidentally shown them the rest of his scars on his torso and back. He heard sobbing come from one of his brothers as he turned back around.

"Tetsuocchi!" Ryouta exclaimed as he pulled the smaller boy into a hug. Kuroko was shocked, confused and filled with tears. The youngest boy was startled to feel tears falling onto his exposed skin as he turned around to put his arms around the older of the pair.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Ryou-Nii" Kuroko cried out, as his face was pushed into Kise's bare chest. The model squeezed his brothers weak body close, not being able to reply thanks to the constant sobbing that was leaving his mouth. It was in that moment that another pair of arms joined the two youngest boys in their embrace.

"You're beautiful Tetsuya" the eldest of the brothers whispered as he wrapped himself around the smaller boys, his face filled with a similar sorrow to Kise's.

"Nobody will ever hurt you again, I promise, I'll never ever let them hurt you" the red-head continued, making the youngest blush slightly and pull his brothers closer.

"Tetsuocchi, you... you're my hero" Ryouta managed to cough out between his gasping breaths. Kuroko's eyes widened at the words but still he managed to keep himself holding onto the belief that they hated him.

He shivered and backed away from the pair before running out of the room, forgetting that he was half-naked as he sprinted- to the best of his ability- back to the house.

"I'm so stupid, they hate me, everyone hates me, he told me they did" Kuroko mumbled to himself as he ran, his heart feeling shattered.

Tetsuya's tiny feet managed to carry him all the way to his bedroom before he broke down to his knees, crying uncontrollably.

"Kouki, what do I do?" Kuroko begged aloud, as he looked at his bed to see a familiar figure. The smiling face of his best friend, was faint, his face barely being recognisable by this point but still there none the less.

"Tetsuya" a frantic voice shouted as it entered the room, Kuroko turned to see the looming figure of Murasakibara stood in the doorway.

"Please I don't want to be hated anymore Kouki" Tetsuya whimpered as the ghostly shadow of Furihata stood behind his brother. The tall purple-haired boy turned to his right, and noticed that there was definitely nobody there before striding over to the panicked child.

"I could never hate you, Tet-Chan, because I love you" the boy spoke softly before pulling the crazed boy into his lap and stoking his hair. The giant pressed a multitude of kisses to the tiny child's face, trying to kiss away the pain. "I can't you hate me" Kuroko sobbed, his eyes only inches away from the blank amethyst iris's of Atsushi's.

"I will kiss every single scar on your body, Tet-Chan, and take away every pain that you've ever felt but you have to pinky promise to never say I hate you again" Murasakibara mumbled, his eyes looking at Kuroko as if he was a snack, or more than that, like he loved him.

"You'll take it all away?" Tetsu looked up hopefully his voice worn and broken. His brother gave his a firm nod before kissing his lips softly. Kuroko gave a sad smile before holding out his pinky finger to the giant. Murasakibara wrapped his own pinky finger around Kuroko's tiny one with a small giggle.

"Let's go get snacks, Tet-Chan" Atsushi quickly spoke, much to Tetsu's horror. Before the blunet could protest he lifted the skinny child effortlessly and started carrying him.

"Tetsu..." A voice muttered from behind them, just as the pair reached the kitchen. Murasakibara slowly put the boy down, before running out of the room to find Akashi whom he was sure, was still looking for the terrified blunet.

"Do you hate me Dai-Nii?" Kuroko asked, his voice shaky to the point where it was a miracle that the older boy heard it.

"Are you crazy, I could never hate you!" Daiki screamed, anger pouring out of his voice while he clenched his fists tight. Kuroko was suddenly amazed.

"I love you, you're my little brother and I have scars too, what fool told you that I hated you?" Aomine growled out, staring at Tetsuya as if to devour him.

"My father..." Kuroko whispered in the smallest voice that he could possibly muster.

"Then he was a dick and a fucking fool" the elder yelled, smashing his body against Kuroko's, only just noticing that the kid was still shirtless. Aomine quickly pulled off the t-shirt that he had changed into and gave it to the smallest boy.

"I don't care if you're ashamed of your scars, because one day I will make you realised that they are what make you amazing, because you are a fucking fighter that survived so much shit!" Daiki continued, rage emanating from his voice. The shell-shocked kid, slipped the oversized t-shirt over his body with a small smile.

"I love you too, Dai-Nii" Kuroko grinned, his eyes lighting up once more.

"You better, because I love you far too much to see you have a panic attack like that" Daiki told him, his tone stern yet still loving. 'Almost motherly' Tetsu mused as he watched a flustered expression overtake the older ones face.

"I couldn't have said it better myself" Shintaro laughed as he entered the room, his arms folded into himself.

"Shin-Nii" Kuroko cried as he ran into the green-haired boy, his face pressing into the much taller boys chest.

"You never asked if we hated you, but the answer would have been a definite no, do you understand how much you actually mean to us?" The bespectacled male asked as he fell to his knees in front of the miniature blunet.

"I think I'm starting too" Kuroko calmly spoke back, a tender smile playing on his lips. Midorima lifted his hand to caress the younger ones face.

"On a scale of one to ten, how much do you think we love you?" Shintaro asked, a coy expression overtaking his features, making Kuroko smile lightly.

"A seven?" The cyan-haired child replied, making Shintaro look at him strangely.

"A seven? More like a billion" Midorima clarified, a smirk finding its way onto his lips as the boys face morphed into a bewildered expression.

"You see, Tetsuya, here we love all of our brothers because everyone her is special and unique, it doesn't matter how you look or where you from, your gender, ethnicity, sex or sexuality" Shintaro started his hand reaching out to hold onto Tetsu's.

"As long as you are you then we will love you, because nothing else matters apart from the fact that you are here, and sane and free, and I can't think of anything more magically beautiful" he ended, before pressing a kiss to the boys lips much like Atsushi had done before.

Shintaro found that kisses, held affection and love in ways that one can't explain with words, and he knew that was exactly what his baby brother needed.

All of a sudden an out of breath person entered the room, he was doubled over with heavy breathing falling out of his mouth at a worrying rate.

"Sei-Nii?" Tetsuya realised as he watched the boy with concerned eyes. The formers red hair whipped up to show a relieved expression settle on the eldest sweat-covered face.

"You're okay? Not hurt at all?" Akashi hurriedly questioned, patting the boy up and down. Midorima grinned at the small boy before rushing out of the room, not wanting to disturb their brotherly talk.

"I'm fine, Atsu-Nii made me wake up" Kuroko carefully explained not wanting to go into detail about his episode.

"Does that happen often, Tetsuya, do I need to protect you better?" Seijuro continued, his questions getting louder and louder. Kuroko lowered his head, in guilt. His episodes only happened occasionally, usually after bad dreams, however it seemed that the pain of his brothers also brought on his illness.

"Not that often, you're protecting me amazingly, it makes me so happy" the teal-eyed boy sighed, his content face meeting that of his brothers.

"I'm no expert on being a big brother, I don't think that there is such a thing, but I love you dearly and I will protect you in any way I can Tetsuya, that I can assure you" Sei cried out, his arms grabbing the younger ones and lifting him up. Seijuro pressed his forehead to Kuroko's a smile moving to his lips as the boy looked at his in an amused way.

"If only you could see yourself how we see you, you'd be so amazed, it would be funny to watch" Sei chuckled, his laughter only getting louder when Tetsuya pouted at his choice of words.

"Now you have someone who you need to help, can you do that for me?" Akashi asked his laughter causing Tetsuya to wonder what he was planning.

The red-head ushered his baby brother to the library, not telling him anything which made the smallest of the group anxious.

"Hello?" Tetsuya asked as he walked into the room with a fearful look. Only a moment later did he hear the loud cries of someone at the opposite side of the bookcase he was stood next too.

"Ryou-Nii!" Kuroko exclaimed, realisation dawning on his face as he moved around to see the model curled up in a fetal position on the floor. The boy kneeled down to pull Kise's head onto his lap, still the boy wouldn't directly look at the blunet.

"I love you so much Ryou-Nii, please don't cry, I'm not in pain, just look at me I'm begging you" Kuroko pleaded, his body instinctively pulling Kise into a hug. The small, hesitant breaths that were coming from his older brothers body made him afraid.

'It's just like Ogiwara' Kuroko thought to himself, his brain making him upset once more. Tetsuya knew how to break Ogiwara out of his slumps, and wondered if it would also work on his beloved brother. The smaller boy swooped down and kissed his brothers lips, noticing that the models were chapped, as he closed his eyes.

Kuroko gasped slightly when he felt Kise pull him into a deeper kiss, his gaze now focused on Ryouta's which was looking back in wonder. The blond pulled away from Kuroko before, kissing him once more, feeling something come over him that he'd never felt before. Tetsu was shocked, but he continued non-the-less until the other was satisfied.

"You, brought me back?" Kise asked, his expression lost and frightened, as he gasped for the air that the kiss had taken away.

"How?" He whispered to himself, before looking to Tetsuya with a large grin.

"Thank you" the blond cried, pulling Kuroko into another hug and a kiss.


	7. The Boy In The Grass

Kuroko Tetsuya didn't like the idea of school. In fact the thought of going to a place full of other children who could potentially ridicule and upset him, made his stomach churn. Masaomi had announced that it would probably be best if he attended school with his brothers within the next six months.

The blunet, had expressed his opinion on the matter however, his father had told him that participating in an education was something non-negotiable.

Of course, Tetsuya had managed to avoid the subject since it was brought up...

"Tetsuya, I know that you don't want to go but it will be good for you, especially if you make some more friends" Masaomi told him, a frown set on the older mans face at the child's obvious fear. Kuroko mulled over the sentence for a moment, doubting that he would even make any friends with his severe lack of presence around others.

"I don't want any more friends, I just want to stay with you" the teal-haired boy muttered, his eyes pleading with his father to leave him be. The elder Akashi, was slowly losing the will-power to fight against the child, Tetsuya's doe eyes slowly taking away his ability to argue.

"Tetsuya, don't you want to spend the day with us?" Seijuro suddenly cut in, his voice laced with sadness as he watched the boy start to panic slightly.

"No, Sei-Nii I do, but..." Kuroko trailed off, not wanting to word his anxiety towards the others in the room. He didn't want them to see how weak he actually was.

"Don't be afraid, we're here, I have your lucky item for the day just in case" Shintaro stated as he handed the tiny boy a framed picture of the family. Kuroko silently noted that he wasn't in the picture, mostly because it was taken just a little while after Ryouta had been brought into the family.

"Don't worry, we will take another family photo soon and you can be a part of it" Daiki stated before ruffling his hair and throwing one of his arms around the smaller blue-haired boys shoulder. Seijuro smiled at the affectionate gesture before leaving the room, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Tet-Chin, come find me at school and I'll share my snacks" the tallest of the siblings spoke out, handing the smallest some pocky with a grin.

"Thank you, Atsu-Nii but I really don't want to go still" Tetsu mumbled his body shaking slightly, Atsushi didn't want him to have another panic attack so he wrapped his arms around the boy and held him close.

"It's okay Tet-Chin I'm scared too" the purplette announced as he cradled his brother lovingly. Kuroko looked towards the elder one to ask about what he had told him.

"Why are you frightened Atsu-Nii?" The cyan-eyed boy asked, worry making its way onto his gentle features.

The giant grinned at the little boy in his arms, moving his hand to pet his soft hair.

"I don't like other people, they're mean and don't understand people like me, so they bully" Murasakibara explained, his childish voice making Kuroko wonder why anyone would want to be mean to such a gentle giant like Atsushi.

"Anyway, Tet-Chin will you put my hair into a bobble, I wanna make sweets?" The older one requested passing the little one in his arms a pink bobble with a plastic sushi piece attached to it. Kuroko smiled at the cute object thinking about how much it suited his brothers personality.

He quickly got a hair brush and started combing through the long strands.

Tetsu couldn't help but hum a tune as he pulled the bristles across the smiling purplette's head. Atsushi decided that he liked the sweet humming that his brother was doing, as much as he like liked the feeling of the boy brushing his hair.

Kise walked into the scene with a large pout on his face as he watched the two. Kuroko was stood up, his boy just tall enough to reach the giant head, while Murasakibara was sat crossed legged in front of the large mirror in the living room of the mansion.

"No fair Atsuicchi, why don't you ever let me style your hair?" The blond cried his whiney voice interrupting Kuroko's song. The giant sent him a lazy glare before looking at Tetsuya's content face in the mirror.

"Because you make me look like a girl Ryou-Chin" the older of the three complained before feeling the bobble be put into his hair. Kuroko pulled the pony tail while holding the top of it, tightening the tail so it wouldn't fall out.

"Thank you, Tet-Chin" Atsushi gladly smiled before walking towards the kitchen with a happy demeanor that was rare to see on the lazy brother. Kise seemed to contemplate something for a moment before turning to the blunet.

"How do you know how to do hair so well Tetsuocchi?" Ryouta asked a questioning look on his face, this consisted of his usual wide-eyed stare mixed with one raised eyebrow. Kuroko couldn't help but giggle at the look for a moment before getting ready to explain.

"I used to have really long hair, so I used to put it up" the boy told the other with a coy look. Kise looked at the cut strands of his hair for a moment almost as if he was observing the idea of a long-haired version of his Tetsuocchi.

"How was it cut?" The older of the two suddenly asked with a strange look on his face. Kuroko lowered his head remembering how it had been yanked out when the man he used to call his father pulled his head off the ground after landing a particularly painful punch to his abdomen.

"I don't remember" Tetsuya lied, the images of a bruised and bleeding Ogiwara cutting the hair as best as he could with a sharp piece of broken glass. The blunet could remember how hard it was to get the locks to cut while they were matted with his own dried blood.

"I'm not sure I believe you Tetsuocchi but it's okay" the blond replaced his upset frown with a bubbly smile that annoyed the blunet. Tetsu reached up to the models face, placing two fingers at either side of his mouth, he pulled down the lips to form a stretched frown.

Aomine stood at the door watching the pair, wondering what was going on before the blunet let go of Kise to greet him.

"Hello Dai-Nii, when are we heading to the school?" Tetsu asked his hand reaching for the navy-haired boy's. Daiki looked thoughtful for a moment before clutching the tiny fingers that were entwined with his own.

"It's initiation today, so we head there at two and come home by three, it's just a run down of their stupid rules" Aomine grumbled clearly not wanting to attend the event. He smirked slightly, telling Tetsuya that he was up to something.

"But all we really have to do is make a small appearance and then sneak out, we could go play basketball while everyone else is listening to the boring speech" Aomine flashed him a cheeky grin which made the younger one blush and nod his head in agreement.

"I'll make a rebel out of ya yet!" Daiki exclaimed before throwing a uniform at him. Kuroko pulled a face making it clear that he didn't like the look of the clothing.

"Why, do I have to wear this?" Tetsu groaned, not liking the fabric. Aomine shrugged before reaching out his fist for a fist bump. The younger of the pair happily reciprocated the motion with a flushed smile.

Kuroko changed into the uniform, his small hands not reaching the end of the fabric, so they were huddled inside the warm sleeve leaving the ends of his uniform to droop.

"This is far too big for me" Tetsuya cried as he walked into the room where he knew Midorima was reading a book. The emerald-eyed boy giggled slightly, putting down the book and moving forward to fix the boys attempt at doing up the buttons on the jacket.

"You're such a mucky pup" Shintaro told him, shaking the dirt of his jacket by brushing his hands over it.

"You need to stand straighter or just pull your hands through the sleeves by pushing the fabric up" he explained, demonstrating it using his own uniform for a moment. Kuroko copied him and found that his hands would actually be usable in the clothing.

"You're so cute" another voice joined them, making Shintaro go bright red.

"Shut up Sei!" Midorima exclaimed, blushing furiously. Kuroko let out a soft giggle at the reaction of his brother.

"Sorry, we're all ready to go by the way" Akashi told them before ruffling their hair carefully, trying not to mess it up completely. The two boys nodded in understanding, as they followed him out of the room towards where all the other brothers and Masaomi were stood.

"Can I go and get something?" Kuroko asked when he reached the living room, almost as if an idea had just popped into his head. Masaomi smiled brightly and nodded, pleased that the boy was being agreeable with the idea of going to school. A second later the boy appeared again holding a first aid kit and a worried smile.

"Tetsu, I don't think we'll need that" Aomine spoke with a confused tone to his voice.

Masaomi didn't push when it came to the idea of taking a first aid kit to initiation day. He knew that Kuroko didn't actually like other kids, and who would blame him considering that the boy had been beaten to a pulp by another kid at the orphanage the day he went to collect him.

Akashi Masaomi gathered the children into the limo before announcing the place to the driver, it was at this point that he became hyper aware that this was the first time his new son had been outside since he brought him home.

"We really love you, you know" Masaomi told Kuroko, startling him a little before the boy let a large smile grace his face.

"Ahh, Tetsuocchi is so beautiful" Kise cried with a pout as he clung to the smaller blunet. Aomine glared at the blond who looked as if he was squishing Tetsuya with the force of his hug.

"Pretty Tet-Chin is being pancaked by you" Atsushi replied, resting his head sleepily on Seijuro's shoulder.

Everyone laughed at the statement as Kise was pulled off the dizzy Kuroko by Midorima.

"I wouldn't suggest falling asleep Atsushi, it's not far away" Sei muttered, looking at the bobble in his head and smiling much like Kuroko did.

"But your shoulders so comfy and I wanna sleep" the giant mumbled, making the red-head chuckle.

The driver smiled happily at the people speaking in the back as he pulled up in front of the large building.

"We have arrived" he told them before getting out of his seat to open the door for the others. Daiki grabbed Tetsu's hand as they started to walk towards the school entrance.

"When I tell you to, we'll run for it and then we get to miss the thing" Aomine laughed, allowing Kuroko to tighten his grip in silent agreement.

A few scream-filled introductions to the faculty later (due to them being scared by Kuroko's lack of presence),Tetsu and Aomine were being ushered into a large gym-like room in order to attend the assembly.

"We better go now, before father and Sei catch up to us" Aomine told him, pulling him out of the school using a side emergency door that Kuroko was sure wasn't actually meant to be open.

"I think you might of broken the door Dai-Nii" Tetsuya deadpanned, hiding a smile behind his teasing voice.

"Shut up, Tetsu, don't say that" the older blue-haired boy flustered, wanting to make sure that the door was still working.

Kuroko let out a pleased laugh at the fact that his little tease had worked.

"Lets just go already" Aomine grumbled, he was upset that Tetsuya had out-witted him.

"It's just past this field, oh wait I forgot the ball" Daiki groaned as he realised what they were missing. Kuroko sighed, he'd realised this a long time ago but hoped that the boy had a plan of action.

"Hey, make your way over there I know who has one" Daiki shouted as he began to run back towards the school. Kuroko gulped at the fact that he had been left all alone.

"Dai-Nii, wouldn't leave me here to get rid of me would he?" Kuroko asked himself out loud as he stated to cautiously walk towards the basketball court unsure of what he'd find when he got there.

The field was rather long, at least the size of two football stadiums, making Kuroko wonder if it was used for sports in the school.

As he wondered over to the place, he noticed that he wasn't any closer to the court and the school was now very far behind him. Kuroko looked forward and realised that there was a patch of crimson red on the field. He aimlessly started to quicken his pace towards the place only to notice that the certain patch of colour in the grass was a person.

A boy to be exact.

Kuroko looked down at the boy, his hair was a darker shade of red than his brother but it was certainly close.

The boy had slightly tanned skin, as if he'd been on holiday recently to somewhere hot, his eyes were closed as he slept in the grass but his eyebrows were the same colour as his hair, but they were split...

The boy in the grass, was beautiful.


	8. Kagami Taiga's Incurable Love Sickness?

**Chapter Text**

Kagami Taiga was five years old when his mother sent him across the world to live with his father in Japan. He had never thought that he would have to leave his home in America, so the shock managed to really upset the small child.

The red-head wasn't overly keen on the idea of moving in, and living with someone whom he had never even met before, yet his mother insisted it was the only option.

Begrudgingly, the little cub packed his suitcase and within three weeks of his mother informing him of the move was shipped off to live in the beautiful country of Japan.

His small heart pounded at the idea of moving to another country especially since he had gotten on the flight alone without the comfort of his mother to guide him.

It was funny to Kagami, considering a year later he couldn't even picture the woman's face. All he remembered was her beautiful fierce blood-red eyes and the soft 'goodbye my Taiga' as he boarded the plane.

Two days after moving in with his father, his mother passed away. According to the man that he would now be living with, she had been terminally ill for a while and wanted to make sure that Taiga wasn't there to see her go.

The red-head never got over the look on his fathers face as he dropped the phone and told him the news. Kagami didn't go back to America for the funeral, his father told him that those were no place for children and that he was too young to see something so horrendous.

Taiga would never tell anyone but he was secretly happy that he didn't have to directly deal with the people that he used to live with.

Of course, he would have taken the chance to see his mother over anything when she passed...

The days got bleaker and bleaker for the small boy as his father started to become more and more restless. Kagami would take himself to bed early, mostly so he didn't have to see his father drinking alone and sobbing to himself.

Once the man had made Taiga sit in front of him for four hours listening to him babble about how Taiga's eyes looked exactly like his mothers.

Four months later and here he was, the small child was now used as a human punching bag and seethed at the thought of his father.

His mother became a broken background memory of a time when he could escape the cruelty of life and live how a child was supposed to. Kagami would often muse to himself about how cruel a blessing his mother had been, giving him a touch of freedom only to have it all crushed beneath a monsters feet.

His small body was filled with cuts and bruises by his sixth birthday, which he spent entirely at a basketball street court with a pretty raven haired boy whose name escaped him and the boys adoptive American mother.

On this particular day, he had to enrol into school, however his father was flat out drunk and wasn't killing to take him. Kagami had managed to scrape together his uniform which was thrown over the house and had left by himself.

Of course, once he got there he signed into the school and left ignoring his teachers pleas for him to attend the school opening assembly which just sounding ridiculous to him.

Taiga was going to go play basketball, but found that his legs couldn't carry him any further as exhaustion set in.

The red-head spent around half an hour willing his legs to lift him upwards to no avail, before resting his eyes and falling asleep.

The cold chill of the air was what finally managed to awaken him from his slumber. Though, he wasn't fully sure, considering there was a soft warmth emanating from a small figure that was snuggled up beside him.

The red-head let out a shocked gasp as his body flew forward, allowing the tiny male cuddled close to fall to the floor. Kagami momentarily thanked the world that they were lying on grass so the boy wouldn't get hurt by the abrupt landing.

He saw the small body tense slightly and a soft broken whimper escape his pale lips.

Taiga watched in fascination as the boys eyes fluttered gently open. Kagami was enchanted, nay absolutely enamoured by the sky-blue eyes that locked onto his own. Taiga clutched his chest tightly feeling his heart start to beat erratically at the sight of the beautiful person who had willing lay with him in the grass.

The two found themselves staring at one another, cautious that they were being observed. Kagami watched as the boy let a small worried smile grace his lips before holding out his hand to the red-head who flinched softly at the attempt.

"K-kuroko Tet-tetsuya..." The blunet managed to stutter out, shaking, but still trying. Kagami was confused and elated at the same time, finding that his ability to speak was somehow not working correctly.

"Taiga" he suddenly shouted, gasping at the smaller ones reaction: fear.

"Taiga" Kuroko mumbled, his tongue rolling out the word as of to taste it. The boy smiled kindly at the red-head before bowing politely in introduction.

"You can call me Tetsuya" the cyan-haired boy gleamed before moving to sit next to the taller boy. Kagami smiled happily as the butterflies on his stomach made him feel slightly sick.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, I'm Kagami, Kagami Taiga" the shy boy whispered, as he bowed slowly in apology. Kuroko gleamed at the other his blank expression moulding into one of immense joy before the red-heads eyes

"Umm, what are you doing all the way out here on the field?" Taiga asked his words quiet but inquisitive. Tetsuya shrugged before pointing to the basketball court in the distance. Kagami was in awe of the adorable boy who apparently also loved basketball!

He let out a cheeky smile before standing up and offering his hand to the other. Kuroko held out his hand but quickly realised that he had put up the taped fingers that were broken. Taiga frowned at the painful looking injury before helping up his new found friend.

"What happened to your hand?" Taiga inquired, inspecting the gentle fingers as if they were made of glass, his fingertips ghosting over the injury.

"There was a boy at the orphanage who didn't like that I was being adopted" Kuroko explained in the smallest voice that Kagami had ever heard.

Taking in the information fully, Taiga had never felt his heart sink so quickly.

This tiny boy had been beaten because he was in an orphanage...

He had no family...

Just like Taiga.

"Your being hurt right?" Tetsuya questioned the red-head catching him off guard with the determination and sadness that could be witnessed in the others eyes.

Taiga was caught off guard by the other and choked on his own words.

"Your arm looks swollen and bruised" Kuroko deadpanned pointing towards the lifted sleeve of the boys shirt making Kagami realise that he wasn't a psychic.

"I... Umm..." Taiga cried out, not wanting to show how weak he really was in front of the stunning blunet who made his heart feel funny.

"My father hurt me too" Tetsuya informed the other pulling up Kagami's sleeves and moving to collect the first aid kit from his bag.

"Oh... Why do you carry that around with you?" Kagami asked, blushing slightly as the other picked up a liquid and put it on a gauze. Kuroko looked lost for a moment, sadness forming in his eyes.

"Because there is pain everywhere you turn, and some of it can be healed by the contents found in a first aid kit, and other types of pain can be healed by the person holding the bandages" Kuroko smiled after he spoke, making Kagami flinch as his heart pounded dangerously fast.

"I'm not sure it's safe to be around you, since you showed up my heart hurts" kagami muttered, feeling an impeccable amount of pain at the prospect of the other leaving him.

Tetsuya looked worried for a moment before leaning forward and placing his head on Taiga's chest to listen to his heartbeat.

"Wow, your heart moves really fast Taiga" the bewildered blue-haired boy spoke out loud.

When he pulled away, Kuroko noticed that the other boy was bright red, and stuttering out something that he couldn't quite hear.

Kuroko wondered what the term was that he often saw on the shows Shintaro often watched while he was in the room, they were medical drama's but Kuroko couldn't remember the exact word...

His eys lit up once the memory clicked into place as he turned to the blushing red-red.

"I hear by diagnose you with love sickness" Tetsuya told the other seriously, thinking back to a time when his friends had been talking about what it feels like to be in love.

He vaguely remembered Furihata telling Ogiwara that he was in love with his and that his love sickness was making his heart beat too fast.

"If I beats any faster then you might die!" Kuroko announced, thinking about Ogiwara telling the other that he didn't want Furihata to be frightened but he might die of a broken heart, if it got too fast.

"Wow, really then I love you Tetsuya!" Kagami cried out not wanting to miss the opportunity of telling the boy he fell in love with him at first sight.

Kuroko couldn't stop the blush that swallowed his face as he taller boys confession struck him, making his own heart start to pound.

"Only my brothers and my new dad have ever told me that they love me before, oh and my old friends, I'm not sure what to say..." Kuroko muttered wondering if Furihata ever did get a response to his confession before he died.

"You don't have to, but my mother told me before she passed away that you should never miss the chance of telling someone you love them, because before you know it, they're gone" Taiga responded, his arms wrapping around the other, and his heart speeding up a lot.

"Maybe I should just go away from you then it might stop!" Tetsuya decided, but wasn't allowed to escape the others arms.

He felt Kagami's arms tighten around him making him feel both safe and worried for the other, his own heart now beating unevenly just like the one he could feel in front of him.

"No, thinking about you going hurts even more" Taiga shouted alarmed about the fact that the boy might leave him.

"But I have to go home, my brothers will be worried about me" Kuroko told the other feeling sad that he had to leave the hurting red-head.

Taiga seemed to muse over the comment for a moment before seeming to come to a conclusion.

"Are you attending Teiko?" He asked softly, holding onto the blue-eyed boys hand for a second. Kuroko nodded in reply, a happy smile lighting up his face at the idea of Kagami being there.

"Then we'll always be together at school, right?" The beautiful re-head pondered aloud. Tetsuya nodded, overjoyed at the plan.

"Oi, Tetsu the initiation ceremony has finished and Sei is fuming!" Daiki yelled, running towards the love-stuck pair with a surprised look on his face.

The navy-haired boy instantly decided that he didn't like the red-head as he watched Kuroko interact with the other in an all too friendly manner!

"See you soon!" Kuroko smiled, turning towards his brother getting ready to leave. Daiki glanced at the red-head for a second, before grabbing the hand that was in the others possession. Tetsuya was taken aback by the action, before Taiga leaned in and kissed Kuroko's soft lips.

Daiki growled and yanked his brother away from Kagami.

He mumbled angrily as they walked away leaving the red-head to put his fingers to his lips and think about what he did.

Kuroko smiled, he made his first friend at a new school and helped cure a disease.

This was a good day!


	9. Jealously Is An Unkind Emotion

Kuroko was quickly pulled away from the scene by his brother who was clasping tightly at his tiny hand. The cyan-haired boy let out a small squeak of disapproval as the boy's hand suddenly tightened painfully around his delicate fingers.

"Don't go near his again Tetsu, I don't want him taking you away!" Aomine cried out, shocking the tiny blue-haired boy into opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

"Dai-Nii, he wouldn't take me away, he couldn't I love you" the boy replied, feeling tears form in his eyes at the mere suggestion of being taken away from the people he had grown to love so quickly.

"I don't want to leave you, no, I want to stay with you forever" the boy continued, sobbing frantically now. Aomine was taken aback by the little angel, usually he was calm and quiet but somehow, he had managed to make the boy cry and beg to stay with them.

"I'm so sorry Tetsu, you won't have to leave, I'm sorry" the frantic child said back, he too was getting upset by the other who rarely cried at the words people told him. The taller of the two boys quickly pulled the other into a cuddle allowing the smaller one to rest his head in the formers neck.

"Please don't ever make me leave you" Tetsuya muttered, seemingly out of tears. Aomine's breath hitched as he pushed the other back as far and his arms could reach, yet kept his hands on the smaller one's shoulders.

"I could never tell you to leave, I love you so much" the elder cried out his hands shaking as he looked at the others wide-eyed expression. A small smile made its way to Kuroko's tear-stained lips as he realised how much the other boy must truly care for him.

"Thank you, Dai-Nii, thank you so much" he spoke through the remaining tears that were slowly sliding down his cheeks. "I think we should be getting back to the others now, okay?" The taller leaned down and pecked the smaller one on the forehead.

"Too late, Daiki" an ominous voice rang out from the hill above them.

Aomine slowly casted his eyes upwards in terror as the eldest brother and emperor watched the scene.

"Sei…" Aomine trailed off, not wanting to meet the others eye, he knew that he was going to be in lots of trouble for getting jealous over some other boy talking with Tetsuya. "Come here Tetsuya" the eldest of the bunch held out his arms to the youngest who started to sprint up the hill to get into his arms.

Kuroko quickly leapt at the other with a soft smile, making Akashi feel happy about the others reaction.

"If only the others were as cute as you Tetsuya, then I could have hugs all the time" Akashi laughed as he swept the cyan-haired boy up.

"It's okay, Sei-Nii, I'll hug you whenever you want" Kuroko declared with a satisfied smile etched onto his lips. The eldest brother giggled and moved towards where he knew the others would be waiting. With a short glance, back to check on Daiki, he thought about how melancholy the navy-haired boy looked in comparison to one in his arms.

"Tetsuya, how about you run on and find Atsushi" Akashi told the other as he ushered the smaller boy away from him, putting the kid down onto his own feet. Kuroko gave a nod of approval before wandering into the school grounds to find his family with a gleeful look in his eyes.

"Daiki, what's wrong?" The red-head asked, his eyes burning into his younger brother yet still managing to be soft.

"I just don't want Tetsu to be taken away from us" Aomine cried, burying his head in the others chest and wrapping his arms around Seijuuro's waist.

"What could possibly make you think that he will be taken away Daiki, he loves us very much and we are his family now" Seijuuro stated, running a comforting hand through the others hair affectionately.

"There was the other boy on the grass and Tetsu just seemed to be getting on with him so well and they were smiling and laughing and…" Daiki held his tongue about the kiss between the two. He wasn't sure that he wanted to tell his older brother how much that had hurt him, he was afraid of being called 'strange' or 'weird' for how he felt.

"So, you were jealous because he made a new friend without you?" Akashi chuckled, he didn't know what to say to the younger one as a twinge of pain rose in his chest at the new information.

"He… kissed Tetsu though" the older sighed muffling his words into Seijuuro's uniform.

The red-head's eyes widened as he realised what the younger boy had told him.

"I see" Akashi stated before taking Aomine's hand and walking towards where their Tetsuya had disappeared off too.

"Sei?" Daiki gulped as he was tugged forwards by the seemingly angered older version of his brother. Seijuuro gave the younger one a dangerous smile.

"Then we will just have to make sure that this kid knows never to lay a hand on our brother again, won't we" the red-eyed brother growled, making Daiki regret his decision of having told him.

'I'm so sorry Tetsu, I think I've accidently sentenced your friend to the wrath of Akashi' Aomine thought to himself as he wondered what tricks the elder brother had up his sleeve.

And then he smiled at me and told me that his heart was pounding!" Exclaimed Kuroko, the tiny boy had found the other three brothers stood waiting for Akashi's triumphant return.

That was until, Kuroko came bounding over, looking happier that they'd seen him all day.

Currently, they were hearing the retelling of Tetsuya's encounter with a boy they now knew was called Taiga. Kise was silently fuming while Midorima pushed up his glasses and wondered how to get the boy out of the school so he could never be near his precious brother again. Murasakibara decided that this Taiga was definitely not getting any of his snacks, so his little brother by definition was also out of the question.

"But Dai-Nii came and make me leave but he's going to this school and he kissed me and…" at the last uttered word of Kuroko he felt a seething presence behind him. "Tetsuya, you shouldn't let strangers kiss you, it's not safe" Akashi grumbled, his aura turning more and more evil.

"I agree Tetsuya, others are off limits" Shintaro stated as he pulled the other into a hug. The later was confused but accepted the emerald-eyed boys hug. "Just don't do it again" Akashi sighed as he felt the anger slowly fading away. Kise moved to join the cuddle with a coy smile.

"Tetsuicchi should be more careful around strangers" the child model sighed knowing the dangers that could come of trusting someone that you shouldn't.

"I'm sorry" the smallest of the group cried, nestling his face between the two. "Tet-Chin, come and eat sweets with me" the giant sighed as he heard the little boy's voice. Tetsuya nodded and bounded over to his brother. "I'm guessing you have a plan then" Shintaro told Seijuuro as he watched the boy's lips turn into a smile. "That's never a good sign" Ryouta added as he saw the expression on Aomine's face morph into one of fear.

"Tetsuya seems to truly like this person and I won't be the one to tell him that he can't be friends with him, as much as I'd like to…" the last part was spoken through gritted teeth as Akashi imagined another person laying a hand on his Tetsuya.

"Though naïve, Tetsuya isn't stupid, he will know what to do in most situations and I trust him not to put too much faith in his new-found friend" Shintaro deducted as the others turned and watched the cute boy eat pocky with Murasakibara.

"Yeah, he's our genius baby brother, whom we love very much!" Kise exclaimed before bounding over to the pair to join in with their sweet-eating.

"Still, the kid was too close to Tetsu, I don't want him near that person" Daiki spoke, his eyes sharp and ready to kill. The youngest heard Daiki's sentence and pondered what they could've been talking about for a moment. His eye-brows furrowed as he wondered what the relationship between he and Taiga had to do with them.

"He's my friend and you can't tell me not to be around him, after all he's just like me" the youngest spoke out shocking the siblings.

"What do you mean, 'just like you'?" A voice asked from behind them, it was revealed to be Masaomi with a worried but cautiously look etched onto his face. Kuroko casted his gaze down, he didn't want Taiga to end up where he was.

Living in an orphanage and treated like vermin…

"Am I correct to assume that reaction means that…" Masaomi started before cutting himself off once he noticed that the rest of the kids were around. Maybe the youngest child didn't want to tell his brothers about his own experiences just yet.

Tetsuya gave his father a tearful look before the man nodded and rang for the limo to be brought round.

"It's okay Tetsuya, we will talk about the boy you met when we get home" Masaomi stated, wanting the other kids to know that he was purposefully not discussing the matter in front of all of them.

"Why won't you tell us?" Kise asked softly, his eyes pointed towards the floor.

The father of the bunch wanted to comfort Ryouta and tell him that he didn't want Kuroko to have to give up his part so easily but he couldn't…

Kuroko was a very selfless child and he would automatically tell them anything if he knew that it was causing them pain not knowing.

Tetsuya watched the blond with a curious eye before wrapping his arms around the models torso.

"I don't want you to be upset, please don't make me tell you things that are going to upset you" Kuroko whispered to the blond as quietly as he could. Masaomi realised that the child was already doing the most selfless thing. With knowledge comes power, but it also brings heartbreak and sorrow, all things that the small boy was trying to keep Kise and the others away from.

'My children really are beautiful inside and out' Masaomi decided as he watched the kids interact. Seijuuro moved forward to join the embrace his arms encircling the pair.

"It's alright, everything's alright" the eldest cooed, his words calming the rest of the group.

Daiki quickly ran into them and joined the family hug, wanting the warmth that the others provided to keep his mind from running back to the scene with Taiga.

He didn't want to watch it repeatedly, yet there the scene was, seemingly playing again and again in his mind. Shintaro didn't know what to do but thought that the gentle embrace of the others seemed welcoming as he rushed forward to pile on, only getting a glimpse of the closed eyed blissful expression of their younger brother once he did so.

A slow tear fell down Kuroko's face making Midorima wince, yet the smile was gentle and sweet upon the blunet's lips.

Murasakibara was the next to join, his large body towering over the others and his arms being able to pull the rest of them into him. Despite not knowing or caring much about the situation, his brothers meant to world to him and he would happily hug any one of them any day.

Masaomi found himself convinced to join in once all the kids were huddles together with the softest smiled gracing their faces.

He internally congratulated himself for choosing the right kid to adopt.

Kuroko Tetsuya, a broken little boy from an evil family, would always and forever have him home here.


End file.
